How To Be A Good Italian Daughter (In Spite Of Myself)

is a one-woman show, written and performed by Antoinette LaVecchia that examines the hysterical and universal struggles between an immigrant Italian mother and her Americanized daughter.

Performance HistoryAntoinette’s critically-acclaimed comedic one-woman show, HOW TO BE A GOOD ITALIAN DAUGHTER (In Spite of Myself) directed by Ted Sod, had sold out houses at The Cherry Lane in NYC after a sold out performance at Ars Nova. And was performed in earlier versions at Urban Stages and the Midtown International Theatre Festival, directed by Jesse Berger and Ludovica Villar-Hauser, respectively. The piece was also chosen to be in The Culture Project's Women Center Stage Festival, at the Perry Street Theatre and at CenterStage at Fitchburg State College. In Los Angeles, the show raised money for The Collective’s fundraiser, the west coast alumni group of Tisch’s Graduate Acting Program. She was awarded the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust Grant to further her development as a writer/performer. It is published on the digital site Indie Theatre Now.

Note to the Performer:​This piece is theatrical and highly physical in performance. It requires a performer who can move and transform between characters easily and effortlessly. The performer also has to have a fantastic Italian accent for a number of the characters and be able to speak Italian for one scene. The Demon character was inspired by my training in Commedia dell’Arte and Bouffon.

Note from the Playwright

First and foremost, this piece has always been a celebration of the imagination and the freedom it brings. Through the process of creating and collaborating with others on “...Good Italian Daughter...” over the years, I have found a way to express my deep love for the act of creation, for my mother and for my heritage as an Italian-American woman. I was two years old when I flew to the States from a small mountain village in the province of Salerno, with my older brother and our terrified mother.

When I was growing up, my imagination was my saving grace. It alleviated my loneliness and soothed me from always being misunderstood: the kids in school called me “the Italian girl” and my relatives in Italy called me “l’Americana”. Not to mention my poor mother’s surprise in how different her daughter was from anything she had experienced in Italy. I spent my teens and 20’s trying to be anything BUT Italian, including a stab at trying to change my name to something more British: Antonia Laurie (which, thankfully, never made it past a handful of emails). Of course, the moment I embraced every bend and curve of my Southern Italian personality, life became infinitely easier and more fun.

I have been fortunate to work with extraordinary collaborators on this piece and am forever grateful. And now the stars have aligned to bring me a creative and producing team that is dream-worthy. “...Good Italian Daughter...” is my magic show of sorts. I love magic and I love to make people laugh. It fuels me. I look for it in the simplest of things. And, ultimately it brings me great joy to share what I’ve found.